Doylestown, PA Passes LGBT Anti-Discrimination Ordinance

"Doylestown Borough has become the 17th government in Pennsylvania to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
By a unanimous, 9-0 vote, the Borough Council passed a law Monday night protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations.

The vote drew a standing ovation from several dozen who packed Borough Hall.

'This ordinance is a statement that we will no longer treat different groups of people differently,' Councilman Don Berk said. '…We are protecting people who previously had no recourse.'

… Twenty-one states, including New Jersey, New York, and Delaware, have LGBT antidiscrimination laws. Pennsylvania legislators have shunned such efforts, leading some counties and municipalities to pass local laws…Pennsylvania law already forbids discrimination based on race, age, religion, ethnicity, and disability. Doylestown's law duplicates those protections, even though the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission handles violations of the state law."